Product Description

Games are everywhere: Drivers manoeuvring in heavy traffic are playing a driving game. Bargain hunters bidding on eBay are playing an auctioning game. A firm negotiating next year's wage is playing a bargaining game. The opposing candidates in an election are playing a political game. The supermarket's price for corn flakes is decided by playing an economic game. Game theory is about how to play such games in a rational way. Even when the players have not thought everything out in advance, game theory often works for the same reason that mindless animals sometimes end up behaving very cleverly: evolutionary forces eliminate irrational play because it is unfit. Game theory has seen spectacular successes in evolutionary biology and economics, and is beginning to revolutionize other disciplines from psychology to political science. This Very Short Introduction introduces the fascinating world of game theory, showing how it can be understood without mathematical equations, and revealing that everything from how to play poker optimally to the sex ratio among bees can be understood by anyone willing to think seriously about the problem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70120 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Customer Reviews

Falls short
I was very disappointed by this book. I was hoping for an accessible introduction to the area - but found the book pretty impenetrable. I would like to consider myself of average intelligence, but virtually every paragraph read like several key sentences had been left out. The book was also not helped by the author's clear sense of their own self-importance, and a faintly nauseating old-fashioned sexism.

For those with IQs of 200 or more . . .
This is my first text on Game Theory after reading a small section on it in another book. My IQ is MENSA tested & eligible for membership, i have a first class engineering degree & professional engineering qualifications. Binmore is indeed over-confident, however I can forgive that, it is not a limiting factor. The text is indeed very difficult and very poorly written, and by the end of the first few pages, the huge gaps in explanation render the book little more than useless. The first chapter starts with some simple games, however the lack of detailed explanation of their construction & outcome begs the question what is this book for? The Driver Game lacks deconstruction, the Chicken Game gets worse and after that, the lack of a basic explanation of the concepts prevents any further understanding. I would certainly not recommend this book to anyone. I would have thought it better that the author make crystal clear the basics in a layman's book, rather than hitting the reader with hardcore theory. A very, very poor book and certainly not for the layman.

Dreadful book
I agree with those who rated this book poor. The author not only assumes too much of his readers' ability levels, he assumes they know things only he could know; he misses things out (I think!).
(I too am an engineering graduate. I have studied a little game theory before. I'm at least fairly bright).

The publisher should withdraw this book. It is wrong to take money for it. It is one of those where on a scale of 1 to 5 this is minus 10.

The reviewer who gave it 5 is "bm1729". Is "bm" short for Binmore's Mum?